


Borrowed Time

by obsidianlullaby



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alcohol, Carapaces, Derse, Doomed Timelines, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2012-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-22 13:30:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/610337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/obsidianlullaby/pseuds/obsidianlullaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose and how she spends her time on Derse in Davesprite's doomed timeline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ThinkingCAPSLOCK](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThinkingCAPSLOCK/gifts).



Rose was not at all sure that she could refrain from boring her Thorns through her ears if she heard that horrid pinging one more time. Dave had been messaging her repeatedly, as he so often did. Rose wondered at his inability to take a hint. She itched, in all truthfulness, to make the message more explicit, but she knew she would ultimately regret it. Cool, calm, composed. That was Rose. That was the Rose her friends had always known--that was the Rose that Dave depended on.

Rose was swiftly growing ill of being dependable. She slammed her laptop shut and curled into the well-worn velvet cushion at her side. The one upside of being constantly exhausted was that Rose could sleep on cue. As soon as she closed her eyes, she was out like a light.  
When she opened her eyes again, the same feeling of velvet against her cheek was present, but the wash of lavender made it impossible to mistake her location as anywhere but her tower on the moon of Derse.

Rose went to the window. She loved Derse. She knew the players were meant to destroy the black court, and she was fine with that. She had no attachment to the rulers or, truthfully, any of the inhabitants of Derse. It was the planet itself that she found so enchanting. The color alone endeared it to her, but her fondness did go beyond that. Everything was quiet here. The silence was almost tangible. It reminded Rose of a library--you couldn’t help but feel that to speak too loudly would be to break something irreplaceable. But in this case, that went for the entire planet. It was eerie. Perturbing. Unnatural. Dave loathed it. Rose reveled in it. That silence sang of secrets waiting to be torn from violet walls and carapacian claws, and damn if Rose Lalonde wouldn’t be the one to do it.

Soft as a cat’s footfall, Rose descended from her room and made her way to the eastern sector. Three months, and she hadn’t even seen a full third of Derse. This could be easily solved, Dave had once pointed out, by not spending so much time in each location, but what point was there to exploring if one didn’t linger at the good spots?

As usual, there was no one to be seen, aside from the occasional carapace scuttling from one building to another. Rose had found it fairly disconcerting at first, but now it was just one more funny thing about this place, and she took it in stride. Her main issue with this was that it made it rather hard to tell which buildings were safe to enter, considering Derse’s apparent abhorrence of signs or windows. Rose had walked into private residences, much to the frustration of their owners, more times than she cared to admit.

One building did stand out. It was gothic style, almost three times the size of the buildings on either side of it. Its two enormous doors were shut but not barred. It was too enticing. Rose crept forward and rested a hand on the ornate door. A nudge was all it took to have it swinging open.

Rose gasped. She was faced with a library unlike any she had ever seen. It was the sort of library with vellum-bound books and more rooms than you could count and fireplaces and tapestries and yellowed globes and cozy chairs and everything Rose loved all together. She shivered with pleasure and ran inside.

However, after twelve shelves full of nothing but books like _The Black King Goes to War: A History of Our Fearless Leader’s Military Triumphs, A is for Armory_ , and _Down with the Whiteheads!_ , Rose was about ready to give up. She felt despair taking hold. It was heinous that this beautiful place was so intellectually empty. Rose was as fond of military histories and weapon catalogs as the next person, but there comes a point when one simply needs to curl up with something nice and Lovecraftian.

As a last ditch effort, Rose sought out a librarian. It had been years since she had had to ask for any kind of assistance in a library, and it stung her pride a little, but she excused herself on the grounds that this was an alien library and apparently aliens did not feel called to label anything. She wandered around aimlessly, not really sure where to look as there was no front desk. A lot of carapaces were in here, and they all stared at her whenever she walked by. Rose had found that to be a constant of Derse, the way its inhabitants gawked at her. She guessed she couldn’t blame them. She must look rather funny.

Finally, Rose came across a carapace busily transferring books from a cart to one of the shelves. Sighing with relief, Rose approached the little librarian, but, before she reached them, they dashed away with the cart. A frustrated Rose began to give chase and proceeded to trip over a book that had fallen on the floor. Blushing, Rose collected herself and picked up the book. She moved to put it away, but the title caught her eye: _The Art and Science of Magic._

_**Rose.** _

“Huh?” Rose spun around, scanning the room. There were only a handful of carapaces in here, and they were all engrossed in their reading. 

Odd. She could have sworn she had heard someone call her.

Intrigued, she opened the book...

Six hours and three books later, Rose looked up to find a pair of carapaces scowling down at her. (Well, one was scowling down. The other wasn’t tall enough to do that, even when Rose was sitting.)

“Lady Seer,” the taller one ground out. “We are very pleased to have been graced with your patronage, but we are remiss to tell you that the library closed an hour and a half ago, and we would appreciate it very much if you were able to finish up sometimes soon so that we could lock up.”

Shocked, Rose snapped the book shut. It wasn’t anything new for her to lose touch with her surroundings while reading, but surely someone should have mentioned something to her before now. “I’m very sorry! I had no idea. Why did you wait so long to tell me?”

This time, it was the shorter one who spoke. “That would have been terribly presumptuous of us. After all, we assumed that an esteemed seer such as yourself would be capable of observing something as obvious as an entire building of people emptying out! We apologize if we erred.” The other carapace nodded along.

Rose sat up straight. Oh, so this was the game? How fortunate, she had had an entire lifetime to master it. She smiled sweetly. “I apologize as well, I assumed that librarians, such as yourselves, would have understood how easy it is to forget one’s self in a book and realized that perhaps a warning would be in order, but, then, we are from different worlds. Perhaps it is not custom, here on Derse, for the custodians of books to actually read them.”

The carapaces exchanged a look, then burst out laughing. (Rose assumed it was laughter--it sounded more like a rattle, interspersed with hiccups.) “Yer alright, for royalty,” the large one said. Its (his? her? Rose couldn’t tell) voice had dropped several octaves. “I’m the Boorish Bibliotaph, this is the Erudite Scrub. You got a name other than ‘Seer of Light’?”

Rose smiled, sincerely now. “I do indeed. Rose Lalonde, at your service.”

BB laughed. “Let’s not get too radical here. We’re at your service, that’s just the way of things. Pecking order, you know?”

Rose shook her head. “I don’t know, actually. People treat me like I’m something extraordinary, but I’m just a stranger to this world who has no idea of how anything works, save what I have managed to put together from my own observations. Why do I fall so high on your social ladder?”

As one, the carapaces shrugged.

“Heroes,” BB grunted.

“Royalty,” ES chirped.

Rose got the feeling that that was all the answer she was getting.

“We’re headed to a pub after we lock up, wanna tag along?” ES asked, eagerly. “We Dersites pour a mean cocktail, if you didn’t know, and I bet some of the others would be pleased to meet you.”

Rose didn’t bother to inquire as to who the mentioned others were. “No, though I really do appreciate the invitation. I should be... getting back to sleep.”

The carapaces seemed disappointed. “Well, we go every night after closing. If you ever feel so inclined, come find us. We’ll show you our side of Derse.”

Rose parted ways with her new friends. She returned to her tower and was busy opening the door before she realized there was a glossy black paper pinned to it.

> THE BLACK QUEEN INVITES YOU TO ATTEND HER BALL, WHICH WILL BE HELD AT THE ROYAL PALACE, A FORTNIGHT FROM THIS EVENING. YOU SHOULD COME, AS IT WILL BE VERY FUN. WEAR SOMETHING PRETTY.

Rose gawked at the invitation. A ball, of all things! A military parade seemed rather more to Derse's style. Still, Rose had yet to meet the Black Queen in person, and this ball seemed to be offering her an opportunity to do precisely that.

And besides, her mother would have wanted her to go. It felt right.

Rose wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of going alone, though. Maybe it was time to face Dave.


	2. Chapter 2

TT: Did you get one of these invitations?  
TG: oh look who it is  
TG: the almighty seer of light  
TG: guess youre not dead after all then  
TG: should i be thanking you for deigning to speak to me  
TG: prostating myself before you or some such shit  
TT: You mean prostrating.  
TG: who are you to say what i mean  
TG: can you see my thoughts now too  
TG: quick   
TG: tell me what im thinking  
TG: ill give you a hint  
TG: it starts with f and ends with uck you  
TT: Look, I’m sorry I haven’t been talking to you very much. But we decided to use this time to learn as much as we could, didn’t we? Well, that’s what I’ve been trying to do.  
TG: yeah cuz theres so much hurry right  
TG: what with everyone we love being dead and us just killing time til i jump back and clean up this mess  
TG: im the one whos gonna do all the heavy lifting  
TG: im gonna have to go back and play sidekick advisor to some other dave and watch other versions of us all fuck around as if we didnt ever go through all of this and ill be totally on my own  
TG: so youd think you could be bothered to shoot me a message or two while were actually together  
TT: If it’s just you, well, isn’t that just something of a manifestation of what occupies all of your regard anyway?  
TG: the fuck does that even mean  
TT: Never mind.

Whatever else you could say about it, Derse was certainly a good place to clear your head. Or for Rose to clear her head, at least. She knew she should find it creepy. Everything was that same color purple, still and silent, as black shadows writhed in the sky. Derse was the nightmare to Prospit’s dream, but, then, Rose always was one to prefer the darker side of things.

She wasn’t happy, here, nor would she ever be. But she was comfortable.

**_You could be happy._ **

Rose whipped around, trying to spot the source of the voice. As she looked, though, she became convinced that it was all in her head. When she looked up and caught sight of Dave’s tower framed against the empty sky, all thoughts of imagined voices vanished, and she realized her stomach could tie itself into knots just as well here as anywhere.

“Hey! Princess!” a dersite was calling to her from a street corner, grinning and waving some sort of pamphlet. “News, news! Wanna see the news?”

Ever a slave to her curiousity, Rose crossed the street and accepted the paper from the oddly joyful carapace.

> PROSPIT’S HEROES STILL DEAD, DERSE STILL BEST EVER

Rose’s hands shook. With measured, deliberate motions she tore the paper to pieces, let them fall to the dersite’s feet, and spat on them for good measure. Then she turned and walked away.

She was waiting outside the library’s doors when ES and BB came out, laughing and joking with each other. They stopped short when they caught sight of her. She gave them a wry smile.

“About that drink.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Okay, I know you’re gonna say something about space or imply that there are sexual undertones to me crawling into your bedroom through a window, but we both have to admit that this is getting--” Dave stopped short at the sight of an empty room. He had spent all day arguing with himself about whether or not he should come see Rose, and he had entirely forgotten to account for the possibility that she might be out.

“Fuck, Strider, get your act together,” Dave muttered to himself. Uncertain of whether he should stay and wait for Rose to return or make clean getaway while he had the chance, he shuffled aimlessly around her room, flipping open books and kicking at the dirty clothes strewn across the floor.

Suddenly self-conscious, Dave looked down at his own clothing. He had figured Derse pajamas had some magical properties, and maybe they did, but his had still managed to grow rumpled and worn. Dave looked about as bad as he felt, which did not sit well with his coolkid disposition, especially when he was about to see Rose. (Seeing her in person was an incredible shock, no matter how many times it happened. In some way, even with the pictures and poor-quality video chats, she had only ever been purple text on a flat screen to him, and every time he thought he would be able to handle the snarky, sultry voice of Rose Lalonde coming from a real-life person of gentle curves and dark makeup and piercing amethyst eyes, he found himself woefully unprepared.) Quickly, he ran a hand through his hair and tugged on his clothes until they were a little more presentable. Then he berated himself for caring.

It was about then that Rose tumbled through the window with an open bottle of liquor. It took her several attempts to get herself upright, and she had looked at Dave at least three times before she seemed actually to notice he was there.

“Dave!” she shrieked. “Dave. Dave! What’re you doing here? I thought we were fie--ff--fighting.”

“Uh--”

“If you came here to. To. To fight. You should just leave now.” Rose giggled and collapsed onto her bed. She waved the bottle in Dave’s direction. “I’m bizzz--busy.”

Dave gawked. “Fuck, Lalonde, are you drunk?”

Rose glared at him. “Maybe. Sho what?”

“All that time you spent complaining about your mom’s drinking habit, and, all this time you’ve been ignoring me, you’ve been going out getting hammered?”

Dave didn’t even realize she had hurled the bottle at him until he heard it crash against the wall. Then he was able to feel the drops of alcohol that had splashed against his cheek. They dripped down his neck, wetting his collar. Dave stared at Rose, openmouthed.

She was standing now, and shaking. Her fists were clenched.

“Do not,” she intoned, with none of the drunken shakiness remaining in her voice, “talk about my mother.”

Speechless, Dave continued to stare. He had no idea what to do with this Rose. All his august plans of confrontation and accusations fell apart.

“And, for the record,” Rose added, “I wasn’t ignoring you, exactly. I read all of your messages.” She sat back down. “I just had nothing to offer you.”

“I just wanted to talk,” Dave said, feebly.

Her eyes flashed up to him from beneath dark, long eyelashes. “I know you’re scared, Dave. I know it’s been hard. But I lost them too, and, unlike you, I’m never going to get them back. And before long, I’m going to lose you too. What could I possibly say to you?”

And again, Dave was speechless.

Rose blinked several times, then rubbed at her eye with a fist. Oh shit. Oh shit. Was that a tear? Oh shit.

“Rose!” Dave cried, panicked. “Rose, don’t--oh shit.” He sat down heavily on the bed, beside her.

Rose wasn’t crying loudly or messily. She just sat there, biting her lip and choking down hiccuped sobs as her shoulders shook, ever so slightly, and tears rolled down her cheeks.

She didn’t look at Dave. Dave didn’t look at her.

After a moment, he cleared his throat uncomfortably. “I kind of brought you something,” he said, awkwardly. Rose looked at him, blankly. After a moment, Dave managed to get his sylladex to spit out a gown of purple and black velvet, gold and silver gossamer, and embroidery that Dave just really wasn’t qualified to comment on.

Rose reached out and ran her hand over the soft fabric. “It’s lovely,” she murmured.

Dave shifted. “Yeah, well,” he said, handing it to her, “we obviously can’t have you going to the BQ’s party unchaperoned.”

“And you need to buy the right to be my escort with gifts of glamorous fineries? How old fashioned.” Her voice, though, was soft, and she hadn’t taken her hand from the dress.

“Do you want it or not?” Dave scowled.

With a small smile playing around her lips, Rose captchalogued the dress.


	4. Chapter 4

“You are quite dreadful at this,” Rose laughed as Dave haphazardly spun her around.

“Ballroom dance ain’t really my thing,” Dave grimaced.

“More of a breakdancer?” Rose asked, twisting around to peer up at him as he pulled her back close into his chest.

“Something like that.”

“Good thing you have such a skilled partner, then,” Rose teased as she flung her leg up and around his waist.

Dave swallowed and nodded.

“My, my,” an unfamiliar voice rang. “After all I’ve heard of you two, I certainly wasn’t expecting this. You almost look worthy of being called royalty. I’m so pleased you could make it.”

The dancing carapaces quickly shuffled aside, parting like the red sea. When they stilled, a direct path from Rose and Dave to a tall carapace was cleared. She was dressed in a gown of black and white checkered diamonds and an eccentric hat that no one, by rights, should be able to pull off. She pulled it off. She was also distinctly unlike the other carapaces in that she had, among other notable features, wings and tentacles.

“Your Majesty,” Rose breathed, tugging Dave to attention. “It’s an honor.”

“For the both of us, my dear,” said the Black Queen, her lips curled back in a smile that could only be described as predatory. She walked toward them. “Are you enjoying yourselves?”

“Immensely,” Rose immediately answered.

“Eh,” Dave shrugged.

Rose stomped on his foot and shot him a threatening look.

“Ow!” he said, meeting her eyes with a wounded expression.

The Black Queen’s smile twisted into a puckered little frown. “Is something not to your satisfaction?”

“Hey,” Dave began, raising his hands in front of him, “don’t get me wrong, this is a sick jam and all, but it’s just a little bit lacking in the tunage department.”

Rose groaned softly.

“You--” The Queen’s frown deepened. “Do you mean the music? You have a problem with the music?”

Dave grinned and peered at her over his shades. He really did look very charming, Rose had to admit. “Now you’re getting it. But don’t worry, I am the master maestro, here to save the day. I am on this like a shitty hat on a paternal figure’s head.” With that, he turned and plunged into the crowd. Rose watched as the back of his head disappeared from sight, bobbing in time to the music.

“He’s quite a character,” the Black Queen remarked.

“I suppose he is,” Rose replied, unable to fight off a smile.

“Well,” said the Queen, turning to fully face Rose, “as your escort has gone to attend to the urgent matter of the ‘tunage’ and my own is currently waging a war, perhaps we could pass the time together.” She offered Rose her hand.

“Are you asking me to dance?”

“Well, it is a ball.”

Cautiously, Rose placed her hand in the Queen’s. It was smooth to the touch, and cold. “Where Dave and I came from, you rarely saw two females—or two males—dancing together. Only under certain conditions, and only very recently.”

“Why would that be the case? It is quite ridiculous,” the Black Queen observed.

“It is,” Rose agreed, but then she could say no more as the carapacian monarch literally swept her off her feet and into a graceful spin. “You’re a very good dancer,” Rose gasped when her feet were back on solid ground.

“What kind of courtier would I be if I weren’t?”

“Oh, I can’t see little things like propriety getting much in your way.”

Rose could feel the Queen stiffen under her hands. She was treated to a chilly smile. “Speaking of overcoming hurdles, I heard about your little friends. What a tragedy. We can only hope you and your Knight can avoid meeting similar fates.”

It was Rose’s turn to stiffen. “Dave and I have gotten quite adept at looking after ourselves,” she spat. Then, despite her better judgment, added, “Perhaps you should focus on your own safety. As I understand it, the war with Prospit is escalating quite rapidly. It sounds like it wouldn’t take much to tip the scales.”

The Black Queen hissed. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, a hand tapped her on the shoulder. Dropping Rose’s hand and whirling, the Queen came face to face with Dave. He treated her to the same charming grin he had before. “Sorry to interrupt. Your musicians are _stubborn_ , you should really encourage them to open their minds to new musical frontiers. But I guess I can make do with this. Mind if I cut in? What with her being my date and all.”

“Not at all,” the Queen growled through gritted teeth before stalking away like an affronted cat.

“Geez, what’d you do to the Joker Queen?” Dave asked as his hands slid into the positions the Queen’s had just vacated.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Rose sighed. Impulsively, she pulled Dave in closer so that she could wrap her arms around him and rest her head on his chest. She could hear his heart beating, faster now that she was pressed up against him.

“Whoa, Lalonde, that sure is. A lot. Of touching,” Dave stuttered.

“Mm.”

Tentatively, Dave placed a hand on the back of Rose’s head, winding his fingers through her snow-white hair. She purred, and, seemingly taking that as permission, he lowered his own head until it was touching hers. They fit together very nicely.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her forehead, his breath stirring the loose strands of her hair that so well matched his own.

She fisted her hands in the fabric of his jacket. “Me too.”


	5. Chapter 5

TG: thats it i cant take it anymore   
TG: it was such a huge mistake prototyping seppucrow with this useless mindnumbing jackass    
TG: im going back    
TT: Already? 

_I’m not ready._

TG: what do you mean already shit took 4 goddamn months    
TG: or something    
TG: i dont know im kind of losing track of how long its been with all this time hopping    
TT: It just sounds like you're making a rash decision based on temporary aggravation with a laughing puppet.    
TT: I thought we planned to progress as far as we could before you went back.    
TT: To gather information, and avoid repeating mistakes.

_Don’t do this to me._

TG: what else is there to know    
TG: we lost    
TG: cant finish the game with a dead heir and witch    
TT: We don't know Jade is dead for sure. 

_Please stop._

TG: yeah well she had a big fucking meteor bearing down on her and we never heard from her again    
TG: or the trolls for that matter    
TG: after they tricked john into skipping way ahead and getting his ass handed to him by the denizen    
TG: i guess once they managed to sabotage us they were done with us    
TG: and since john died he couldnt get jade in on time so whether shes alive or not shes as good as dead from our perspective    
TG: only thing left to do is change all that    
TT: Are you sure you're ready?    
TT: You'll remember the plan we discussed? 

_Just slow down._

TG: theres not much to remember    
TG: i go back and tell john not to be an idiot and get trolled like such a gullible stooge    
TG: i dont know what he was thinking    
TG: even we couldnt kill one of those things yet    
TG: with our higher levels and all our sick gear    
TT: It still seems hasty to me.    
TT: Maybe I'm just not as comfortable with time travel as you. 

_Don’t, don’t, don’t..._

TG: nah itll be fine dont worry    
TT: After you go, what do you think will happen to me?    
TT: Will I just cease to exist? 

_I’m so scared._

TG: i dont know    
TG: i mean your whole timeline will    
TG: maybe    
TT: Maybe?    
TT: Is there a chance it'll continue to exist, and I'll just be here alone forever?    
TT: I'm not sure which outcome is more unsettling. 

_Have you even thought about what this means for me?_

TG: the thing with time travel is    
TG: you cant overthink it    
TG: just roll with it and see what happens    
TG: and above all try not to do anything retarded    
TT: What do you think I should do? 

_Help me._

TG: try going to sleep    
TG: our dream selves kind of operate outside the normal time continuum i think    
TG: so if part of you from this timelines going to persist thats probably the way to make it happen    
TT: Ok. 

_That’s it? This is it?_

TG: and hey you might even be able to help your past dream self wake up sooner without all that fuss you went through    
TT: I think the true purpose of this game is to see how many qualifiers we can get to precede the word "self" and still understand what we're talking about. 

_I don’t want to lose this._

TG: the true purpose is to make a sprite that doesnt make me want to flog myself raw with my own brain stem    
TG: anything else is gravy    
TT: If my past self can wake up sooner, maybe I'll be the one to visit you first this time.    
TT: I'll fly by and remind you you're already awake and don't know it. 

_I hope..._

TG: yeah thatd be cool i guess    
TG: im gonna go now    
TT: Good luck.

_I love you. Make this count. I wish you could save me._   
_**Don't worry, Rose.** _   
_I’m dreaming..._   
_**We love you, Rose.** _   
_I’m... afraid..._   
_**We'll look after you, Rose.** _

**Future Dream Rose: Cease to exist.**


End file.
